The workhorse of most manufacturers’ inspection departments is the co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM); and
as the need for higher standards of precision grows, so does the requirement for faster inspection speeds to keep pace with the latest highly productive machine tools.
To make full use of today’s advanced CNC CMMs, manufacturers are now maximising efficiency with off-line programming and the linking of multiple CMMs into their manufacturing software systems.
One such company is Lymington Precision Engineers Co Ltd (LPE), a manufacturer of precision-machined components, fabrications, assemblies and kit sets for a range of industries, including oil and gas, telecommunications, aerospace, nuclear and marine.
The company, which has 180 employees, has been owned by Senior plc since 2015 and operates within the Flexonics division.
Daryll Harris, LPE’s quality director, says: “The company has numerous multi-axis CNC machines with turning and milling capabilities for parts up to 4m long; it also has flexible-manufacturing systems capable of working unmanned 24hr a day to produce close-tolerance components.
As well as our ability to manufacture extremely complicated, precise components and assemblies, we take pride in our quality ethos. LPE has developed a quality culture that is focused on eliminating waste, variability and inflexibility.
Moreover, our management systems ensure that processes and tools are always in place, and that our employees take responsibility for producing high-quality products and are always seeking to improve processes.”
To help LPE achieve its quality objectives, it uses a wide range of inspection aids from Andover-based Mitutoyo UK (
www.mitutoyo.co.uk).
These include hardness testers and optical measuring equipment, although the mainstay of LPE’s inspection capabilities is its 14 Mitutoyo CMMs, the latest of which is a Crysta-Apex-S122010 CNC machine.
LPE’s Mitutoyo CMMs range from small models located on the shopfloor to large CNC machines that accommodate parts up to 2m long, 1m wide and 0.9m high. Most of the company’s CMMs are situated in enclosed temperature-controlled environments.
CMM programming
Mr Harris says: “The fact that we use 14 Mitutoyo CMMs gives an indication of our huge production capacity and also our company-wide emphasis on quality.
To make full use of our CNC CMMs, and to ensure that our inspection routines are able to match the speed and volume of our production, we have an advanced off-line CMM programming capability; this also helps to reduce component lead times.
Furthermore, all of our CNC CMMs are DNC-linked to our main server for record and program retention. The diverse nature of our manufactured components means that over several years we have purchased a wide range Mitutoyo CMMs with a variety of capacities and accuracy classifications.
Our most recently installed machine — a Crysta-Apex-S122010 — was purchased to accommodate our larger
high-precision parts.”
The Crysta-Apex-S122010, as purchased by LPE, is designed to make very accurate measurements at high speed.
Moreover, it represents a future-proof investment, as its probe systems and software can easily be upgraded or added to at a later date.
A thermal-compensation system allows the CMM to be used at temperatures varying between 16 and 26°C; this automatically calculates and presents measurement results as if they were made at the standard reference temperature of 20°C.
The machine also offers the option of active vibration damping, allowing it to be used close to a production line, thereby reducing the time required to transport workpieces to and from the source of inspection.
The Crysta-Apex S also features Mitutoyo’s latest UC-400 controller, which allows measurements to be taken at high speed without detriment to its accuracy.
Moreover, the machine can be equipped with almost any kind of probe, including touch-trigger probes, scanning probes and laser scanners — such as Mitutoyo’s new SurfaceMeasure unit.